Ph.D. Programme in Biology – January 2026 

IISER Pune hosts a diverse group of researchers working in various areas. Research in Biology at IISER Pune currently encompasses both theoretical and experimental approaches. Fields of research open to application in this round of PhD selections are given below, along with the names of faculty members working in the respective fields:

Ecology and Evolution: For students interested in ecology and evolution (both theoretical and empirical).

• Deepak Barua
• Ramana Athreya
• Sagar Pandit
• Sutirth Dey

Molecular Biology / Cell Biology / Biochemistry: For students interested in molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, cellular biophysics, developmental biology, microbiology, immunology, epigenetics, chromosome biology, and cancer biology.

• Anjan Banerjee
• Chaitanya Athale
• Gayathri Pananghat
• Girish Ratnaparkhi
• Jeetender Chugh
• Kundan Sengupta
• Mayurika Lahiri
• Nagaraj Balasubramanian
• Madhusudhan M.S.
• Saikrishnan Kayarat
• Sarita Puri
• Sunish Radhakrishnan

Plant Biology: For students interested in plant biology and plant biotechnology.

• Anjan Banerjee
• Deepak Barua
• Sagar Pandit

Theoretical and Computational Biology: For students interested in any branch of theoretical biology, including theoretical neuroscience, evolution, bioinformatics and computational cell biology.

• Chaitanya Athale
• Suhita Nadkarni
• Madhusudhan M. S.

Note: only those faculty members whose names are given above will accept students through this round of PhD admissions. Therefore, before applying, students should check this list carefully to ensure that labs of their interest are available for admission in this round.

Application criteria:
All candidates who fulfil criteria A1 and any one of the criteria mentioned in A2 are eligible to apply. Based on these applications, IISER Pune will create the list of students to be invited for the online interviews.

Eligibility Criteria:

A1. Masters' (or B.E., B.Tech., M.Tech., MBBS) degree holders in any branch of science including physics, chemistry, mathematics, biological sciences, ecology and environmental sciences, biodiversity, psychology or equivalent. Applicants must have a minimum of 60% marks in aggregate (overall percentage and not just in majoring subject) or an equivalent CGPA in the General /OBC/EWS category or minimum 55% marks in aggregate (overall percentage and not just in majoring subject) or an equivalent CGPA in the SC,ST or PwD category.

Students whose final results in Masters or equivalent are yet to be declared can also apply. However, if selected, the offer for these students will be provisional, subject to their fulfilling the above criteria.

A2. Applicants must have any one of the following qualifications.

• Qualified a National Eligibility exam that provides a 5-year Ph.D. fellowship such as CSIR–JRF / UGC–JRF / DBT–JRF–A / ICMR–JRF / DBT–BINC–JRF / Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship / Maulana Azad National Fellowship / National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste Students by CSIR-UGC / National Fellowship for Higher Education of ST Students / National Fellowship for OBC Candidates / National Fellowship for persons with disabilities (NFPWD). The fellowships must be valid on January 01, 2026.
• Qualified JEST* or GPAT or NBHM in the last two years.
• INSPIRE-PhD fellowship (should be in possession of provisional selection letter at the time of Interview).
• BS-MS/Masters students from any of the Institutes of National Importance with a CGPA 8 or above on a10-point scale are exempted from national-level test eligibility criteria.
• Qualified GATE exams (GATE Life Sciences, GATE Chemistry, GATE Eco-Evo, GATE Biotechnology, GATE Mathematics) in. The GATE score must be valid on January 01, 2026.
• Qualified JGEBILS (IISER Pune will shortlist based on the ranks of the students).
• For all the national eligibility examinations which provide a common rank / score, the cut-off rank / score for shortlisting for the Interviews for the reserved categories shall be lowered to 1.25 times the General category rank / score.

Shortlisting and Interview Process:

Meeting the above-mentioned criteria merely makes the candidate eligible for application. IISER Pune reserves the right to use other / more stringent criteria for the purpose of shortlisting for interviews. Specifically, the scores obtained in the “Research Question” and “Design a study” can be used for the purpose of shortlisting for interviews. Only shortlisted candidates will be informed. Therefore, all candidates are requested to check this page regularly for updates.

Link to Application form : Will be available on 03 October 2025.

IISER Pune PhD Program

(Batch starting August 01, 2025)

Applications are invited for admissions to the PhD Programme in Department of Chemistry at IISER Pune in August 2025. Interested candidates with an excellent academic track record who satisfy the eligibility criteria mentioned below are encouraged to apply.

Minimum Eligibility Criteria:

1A. Minimum 60% marks in aggregate (overall percentage; not only in the majoring subject) or an equivalent C.G.P.A on 10-point scale (55% or an equivalent C.G.P.A in aggregate for SC, ST and Specially abled candidates PwD/VH) in Masters' Degree in any branch of Science: Chemistry/ Physics/ Mathematics/ Biology or equivalent.  Candidates with Integrated BS-MS degree/ B.E./ B. Tech./ B. Pharm./ ME/ M. Tech./ M. Pharm. degree satisfying the above criteria of marks can also apply.

Students whose final results in Master's or equivalent are yet to be declared can also apply. However, if selected, the offer for these students will be provisional, subject to their fulfilling the above criteria at the time of admission.

AND

1B. In addition to the above criteria, the candidate MUST have qualified at least any ONE of the following exams:

(a) National Eligibility Test (NET) with VALID CSIR-JRF/UGC-JRF

(b) CSIR/UGC NET-LS

(c) GATE

(d) DBT

(e) IISER BS-MS (All IISERs) Dual Degree students with CGPA greater or equal to 8.0

(f) MSc students passing out of IISER (including IISER Pune) or an institute of national importance with a CGPA above 8.0.

All shortlisted applicants will be further screened based on the ranks/score for their eligibility set by the Institute/Department committee.

Above scores/ranks/fellowships MUST be valid at least till the date of admission to the PhD program

For all the national eligibility examinations which provide a common rank/score, the cut-off rank/score for the reserved categories to be shortlisted for the interview shall be lowered to 1.25 times the General category rank/score.

OR

(a) IISER BS-MS (All IISERs) Dual Degree students with CGPA greater or equal to 8.0.

(b) MSc students passing out of IISER (including IISER Pune) or an institute of national importance with a CGPA above 8.0.

Selection Procedure:

Based on application forms received and the above listed criteria, applicants will be further shortlisted for the interview based on additional criteria set by the Department. All the candidates selected for the interview will receive a separate email to appear for the in-person interview. Shortlisted candidates will be selected for admission to the PhD programme through a rigorous evaluation process that includes an interview by a selection committee.

The mere application/shortlisting does not guarantee admission into the PhD programme.

Applicants are advised to go through the Departmental Web-pages to explore the research programs of individual faculty.

PhD in Earth and Climate Science

The Department of Earth and Climate Science (ECS), IISER Pune invites applications from highly-motivated students for admissions to Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program for the session January–2026.

Members of ECS are engaged in cutting-edge research across diverse domains of Climate science (climate modelling, Monsoons, climate extremes, convective systems, Himalayan glaciers and rivers, …), Geology (weathering and erosion, isotope geochemistry, paleobiology and marine ecology, paleoclimate, Marine Geosciences, …), and Geophysics (theoretical seismology, seismic tomography, geophysical inverse modelling, computational geodynamics, crustal studies and basin modelling, …), employing state-of-the-art lab instruments, theoretical models, and field techniques. For more details on our research, publications, and the faculty visit our webpage. Feel free to contact any faculty member for further queries.

Minimum Eligibility:

1. Students with minimum 60% marks in aggregate (overall percentage; not only in majoring subject) or a CGPA 6 out of 10 point scale (55% in aggregate or equivalent CGPA for SC/ST and PD candidates) in Master’s (or BS-MS) degree in Geology/ Applied Geology/Physics/Mathematics/Atmospheric Science/Climate Science/Engineering/Biology/Environmental Science, or related subjects. BE/BTech students may also apply.
2. Additionally, the candidate MUST have qualified in any ONE of the following exams:

(a) National Eligibility Test (NET) with valid* CSIR-JRF / UGC-JRF/ UGC-LS/ CSIR-LS/ or a valid* GATE/JEST score,

(b) INSPIRE-PhD fellowship (The candidate should be in possession of provisional selection letter at the time of interview),

*The score/rank MUST be valid at least till January 01, 2026.

Or,

BS-MS/Masters students from any of the Institutes of National Importance with a CGPA 8 or above on a10-point scale are exempted from national-level test eligibility criteria.

Selection procedure: Selection will be based on interviews of the short-listed candidates. 

Note:

Only online application will be accepted.

Applying does not automatically guarantee that a candidate will be shortlisted for interview. The department may use additional criteria in order to shortlist candidates for interviews depending on the number of applications received.

For any admission related query please contact ecsphdselection@iiserpune.ac.in

Admissions for session starting January 2026

The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences seeks applications for the PhD programme for session starting January 2026.

Only those faculty members whose names are given below will accept students through this round of PhD admissions. Therefore, before applying, applicants should check this carefully to ensure that areas of their interest are available for admissions in this round.

Bejoy K Thomas

Ecological Economics, Development Studies, or closely related areas

Pushkar Sohoni

History, History of Architecture, or closely related areas

Research areas are not restricted to any specific disciplinary background. Applicants are welcome to work across disciplines.

Eligibility Criteria:

1A. The applicant should have a minimum of 60% aggregate marks or CGPA of 6 on of a 10-point scale (55% or equivalent CGPA in aggregate for SC/ST and PD candidates) in their Master’s (MA/MSc/MPhil/BS-MS) Degree, in subjects including Sciences, Anthropology, Archaeology, Economics, History, Philosophy, Sociology, allied disciplines and interdisciplinary areas. Applicants from Architecture, Engineering/Technology, and Medicine are eligible after a Bachelor’s degree (minimum four years).

Additionally, the candidate MUST have qualified in any ONE of the following exams with any science or humanities/social sciences subject:

1. National Eligibility Test (NET) with valid* CSIR-JRF / UGC-JRF or equivalent
2. CSIR-UGC NET-LS NET-PhD Eligibility or equivalent (from examination conducted during the year 2023 and 2024)
3. NBHM/GATE with a valid* score.

*The score/rank MUST be valid at least till January 01, 2026.

OR

1B. BS-MS/Masters students from any of the Institutes of National Importance with major in one of the subjects mentioned above with a CGPA 8 or above on a10-point scale are exempted from national-level test eligibility criteria

Candidates in the final year of qualifying degree are also eligible to apply. However, their final selection is subject to their successful completion of the qualifying degree with the above-mentioned requirements at the time of admission i.e. on January 01, 2026.

Selection procedure: Based on application form and the above listed criteria, applicants will be shortlisted for an interview. The shortlist will be based on a two-page research plan in addition to the above requirements. Candidates selected for the interview will receive a separate email to appear for the interview at the IISER Pune campus. Selection will be based on interviews of the short-listed candidates.

Note:

Only online applications are accepted. Incomplete applications will be rejected. Applying does not automatically guarantee that a candidate will be shortlisted for interview. The department may use additional criteria in order to shortlist candidates for interviews depending on the number of applications received.

Admission to PhD Program for the January 2026 Batch

IISER Pune invites online applications for the PhD program in Physics for the session starting in January 2026. The research groups of the following faculty members have vacancies for this round. Therefore, before applying, students should check the research interests of the faculty members listed below.

Prof. Aparna Deshpande (webpage)

Prof. Ashna Bajpai (webpage)

Prof. Chandrakala Meena (webpage)

Prof. Shouvik Datta (webpage)

Prof. Sunil Nair (webpage)

Prof. Vijay Chikkadi  (webpage)

Eligibility Criteria

The candidate should have a minimum of 60% marks in aggregate (overall percentage; not only in the majoring subject) or a CGPA of 6 on a 10 point scale (55% or equivalent CGPA in aggregate for SC, ST and PwD/VH candidates) in MSc or four-year BTech/BE/BS. The qualifying degree should be completed by the time of admissions in January 2026.

and

the candidate should have qualified the National Eligibility Test (NET) with a score in the CSIR-JRF/UGC-JRF category, valid at the time of admissions in January 2026.

Note that additional criteria, beyond the above eligibility criteria, is likely to be imposed when shortlisting candidates for interview.

Interview

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to appear for an interview to be conducted in-person (Dates for the interviews will be announced on the IISER Pune website). The final selection to the program will be based on the candidate's performance in the interview.

Application

The online application link will be posted here by October 3rd, 2025.

Further Information

For more information about the PhD Physics program, please visit the following link http://www.iiserpune.ac.in/education/phd 

For information about the Physics department please visit https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/physics

Any queries regarding admissions may be addressed to physicsphdselection@iiserpune.ac.in